Bible Strands
Acts 13:20
All this took about 450 years. After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Paul addresses a synagogue congregation in Antioch of Pisidia, summarizing Israel’s post-conquest history to introduce the Messiah. He speaks at the moment of tracing the chronological bridge between the land inheritance and the establishment of the monarchy.
The words — The phrase ὡς ἔτεσιν τετρακοσίοις καὶ πεντήκοντα (hōs etesin tetrakosiois kai pentēkonta) literally means "during about four hundred and fifty years." The connecting phrase μετὰ ταῦτα (meta tauta) translates to "after these things," marking a clear chronological shift.
The thread — The judicial period is first documented in Judges 2:16 and concludes with Samuel’s prophetic confirmation in 1 Samuel 3:20. This era immediately precedes the people’s request for a king and Saul’s subsequent forty-year rule in Acts 13:21.
Why it lands — The text fixes a specific historical duration to show God’s sovereign pacing before introducing human monarchy. It requires the reader to accept that institutional leadership is a temporary phase within a longer divine plan.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet.
Cross-references
- Judges 2:16 Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them from the hands of those who plundered them.
- 1 Samuel 3:20 So all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the LORD.
- Judges 3:10 The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he became Israel’s judge and went out to war. And the LORD delivered Cushan-rishathaim king of Aram into the hand of Othniel, who prevailed against him.
- Ruth 1:1 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. And a certain man from Bethlehem in Judah, with his wife and two sons, went to reside in the land of Moab.
- 1 Samuel 12:11 So the LORD sent Jerubbaal, Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel, and He delivered you from the hands of your enemies on every side, and you dwelt securely.
- 2 Samuel 7:11 and have done since the day I appointed judges over My people Israel. I will give you rest from all your enemies. The LORD declares to you that He Himself will establish a house for you.
- 2 Kings 23:22 No such Passover had been observed from the days of the judges who had governed Israel through all the days of the kings of Israel and Judah.
- 1 Chronicles 17:6 In all My journeys with all the Israelites, have I ever asked any of the leaders I appointed to shepherd My people, ‘Why haven’t you built Me a house of cedar?’
- Acts 3:24 Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have proclaimed these days.